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Printing Using ICC Profiles

In Professional Print & Layout, you can print by specifying an ICC profile easily.
By using ICC profiles, you can utilize the printer's color space and print in a wider gamut. In addition, you can obtain high quality print results since printing tailored to the paper to be used is performed.

You need to specify the ICC profile according to the paper to be used since an ICC profile is provided for each type of paper; however, ICC profiles will be set automatically when using genuine Canon paper. If using third party paper, specify the ICC profile for that paper in Professional Print & Layout. You need to download and install the ICC profile depending on your printer. For details, see How to Obtain and Install ICC Profiles for Printing.

Rendering Intents

When printing using ICC profiles, print results are affected by the selected rendering intent. Select a rendering intent according to the objective.

  • Perceptual

    Prints by utilizing the color space that can be reproduced on the printer.
    Select this when you want to print with an impression close to that on the monitor since the characteristics of the data displayed on the monitor will be reflected correctly. See "Printing with an Impression Close to That on the Monitor" for details.

  • Saturation (Poster)

    Reproduces the image more vividly compared to Perceptual.

  • Relative Colorimetric

    Converts the image to the printer's color space in a way that the image's colors that are within the color gamut of the printer are reproduced to the nearest level. Select this when you want to print in colors that are close to the original image.

See "Color Management Using ICC Profiles" for details on ICC profiles.

For details on the operation procedure, refer to Professional Print & Layout Guide.

Checking on Monitor How Colors Will Appear in Prints

If you print using ICC profiles, the impression of the color tones displayed on the monitor may differ from that of the print result depending on the paper you use. Using the soft proofing function of Professional Print & Layout is recommended when you want to finely adjust colors since the image will be displayed on the monitor in a color tone close to the print result considering the paper to be used.

Available only when paper supporting this function is selected.

In Professional Print & Layout, select the image you want to print, set the media type and ICC profile, and then select the Soft proofing checkbox.

Monitor Settings and Ambient Light Recommended by Canon

When using this function, it is recommended that you set the monitor and ambient light as follows.

  • Monitor

    Color temperature: D50 (5000 K)

    Luminance: 100 - 120 cd/m2

    Gamma: 2.2

  • Ambient light

    D50 fluorescent lamps designed for color evaluation (color temperature: 5000 K, high color rendering properties)

    Brightness when viewing printed materials: 500 lx ± 125 lx

For details on the operation procedure, refer to Professional Print & Layout Guide.

Tip

When Printing Directly from Photoshop

You can also print by specifying the ICC profile even when printing directly from Photoshop.
In Color Management of Photoshop, select Photoshop Manages Colors, specify a profile according to the paper to print on in Printer Profile, and then select the Black Point Compensation checkbox.

Windows:

From the print settings screen of the printer driver, open the Manual or Manual Color Adjustment dialog box, and then on the Matching tab, select None in Color Correction.

- Set in the same way when printing from applications other than Photoshop in which ICC profiles can be specified.

macOS:

Select Color Matching from the Print dialog pop-up menu, then select ColorSync.

- Options other than ColorSync may not be selectable depending on your application.

When Printing from Applications in which ICC Profiles Cannot be Set

When printing from applications in which ICC profiles cannot be set, you can specify an ICC profile in the printer driver.

Windows:

From the print settings screen of the printer driver, open the Manual or Manual Color Adjustment dialog box, and then on the Matching tab, select ICM in Color Correction and specify the profile and rendering intent.

macOS:

Select Color Matching from the Print dialog pop-up menu, then select ColorSync.

- When Profile can be set, it is recommended that you select Automatic.
When the selected Profile is neither Automatic nor a profile for the media, you cannot print in the correct colors.